[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland. Since much of my news these days relates to trying to age gracefully, this series might be called The Geezer Gazette.]
1/24/26
Aloha Friends!
Just like humans, as cars get older they become less reliable and prone to mysterious ailments. Karen's Miata, which is 23 years old, is becoming a good example of this. Recently we needed to run a bunch of errands and decided to take the Miata, which is a lot of fun to drive and is more gas efficient for short trips. The engine started just fine and then promptly died. And refused to start again. The symptom was straightforward -- the engine would crank but not fire at all. We were thankful that we hadn't yet backed out of the garage, rather than have this happen in the middle of an intersection somewhere, so all we had to do at that moment was switch to our other car. Later in the day I did what any red-blooded know-nothing mechanic would do -- I opened the hood and looked in, then tried to start it again. Same problem. I called our mechanic and made a service appointment, the soonest available being a week away, this past Tuesday. I then arranged for a tow truck to come early that morning. On Tuesday, as I was preparing for the tow truck to arrive I tried to start the car one more time -- vrooommmm!!! WTH?! I did this several more times, and it started fine every time. I quickly canceled the tow truck and drove the car to our mechanic, who understandably said that unless the car had "thrown a code" (i.e. its computer detected a problem and displayed it on the instrument panel as well as storing it in its memory) there wasn't much he could do since it was running fine at the moment. Note, this is the worst kind of problem to work on, because there's no clue to follow and no defect to detect. Bottom line -- the car has worked fine since this episode, but just like my geezer body, you know it's going to give out on you sometime, probably when it is least convenient and most unwanted......
Speaking of geezers, there are just a couple of quick items in the Geezer Gazette this week. I got my pre-op heart ct scan scheduled, but only after I called twice. The first time I got a phone message saying to leave your information and they we would get back to you in 3-5 days. A week later I still hadn't heard anything, so I called again. This time I got a live human who quickly got things set up. I have a feeling I would still be waiting if I hadn't taken the initiative. The second item is that I visited my retina doctor yesterday and, as expected, had another shot. Yawn........I told him about my upcoming ablation and he was very confident it would help with my dimming and indistinct image problem. I just hope the benefits of this procedure aren't being over-hyped.
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| Where's the Gold? |
Ok, that's it. We're looking forward to a visit next week by a couple of friends from Ohio who are escaping from the rather brisk and bleak weather there right now. They have been here several times before, but it's always fun to share our island life. Take care, stay warm, don't slip on the ICE.
6 comments:
We will have some suggestions for Alaska.....
I took a long road trip up to Alaska last summer through BC, the Yukon, and Alaska. Loved all of it. Your cruise on such a small ship sounds amazing. So much better than with 3000 fellow passengers.
I've traveled to Alaska a few times and was enthralled every time. We went on a cruise on the inside passage, one of the large ships. It was fun and it had it's distractions, but nothing takes away from the wonder views from deck! I really liked the air tour of Glacier Bay we got from one of the stops, highly recommend that. I got off at every stop and headed for the woods to walk as far as I could get before I had to make it back for the ship to sail. Much better than shopping! Just ask any local where the best and closest trail is. If you can add on a trip to Denali I would recommend that. I've been there three times and loved every trip. Your ship concierge will probably have a pre-planned trip. I just rented a car and drove up and then took the highly recommended free school bus tour of the park. Trump probably shut that down. But it was great with several places to stop and enter the food chain as the Alaskans are fond of saying. Much wildlife as there are few humans on the ground and few vehicles too. If you go to the park, go all the way to the end of the road as that's where the view of Denali is if there's not too much fog. Fog is a real likelihood in the area. I've been lucky most times I was out there. There is a private lodge out past the end of the road I've heard highly recommended. The Cook Sound is easy to drive along and then Kenai Peninsula. Homer is a great destination for a classic Alaskan Fishing village. Many bald eagles along the beaches approaching town. I guess I liked everywhere I went, Seward, Fairbanks, Tok, Kennicot Mines (with ghost town and lodge) and the little towns which are really small. Bush flights are amazing going out in the valleys between the mountains. The north shore clear up at Katkovik to see the ANWR before they screw it up with oil drilling on the north side of the beautiful Brooks Range is an amazing place. There's a regular flight sometimes with Frontier when I went and bush pilots that are the only fast way to see the reserve. Big state, distance are far, facilities rare but really great things to see! Enjoy! DN
Wow! Thanks for all the tips. We're a little worried that the beginning of September might be a bit chilly for us, which is when we'll be ending the cruise. We could try to do more early but we gave other commitments. The tips about taking a walk out of town, and maybe doing a bush flight in Glacier Bay are good ones. We'll look into those for sure.......Thanks again.
Miatas are notorious for playing tricks on long time owners. Might be rice stuck in the fuel pump or carburetor. Accompanied my parents when they drove from Ohio to Fairbanks and return, summer of 1954. My dad and I flew to Nome and Kotzebu the week of July 4. Alaska not yet a significant tourist destination. Could be chilly in September.
We had wanted to go on the cruise scheduled for early August but it was sold out. As it was we got the last cabin available on the ship. Not ideal, but at least we'll be on board.
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